Chidi Anthony Okezie (born August 8, 1993) is a US-born sprinter of

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

and Jamaican descent. Okezie is competing internationally for Nigeria. He is a two-time

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

bronze medallist in the 400 metres.

Personal

His father, Moses Okezie is Nigerian and his mother Carol Morris is Jamaican. He has nine siblings. He graduated from

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

in 2015 and has a Master's in Sports Administration.

Career

Okezie was part of the American 4 × 400 m relay team that won a gold medal at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on 10–15 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. He represented Nigeria at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

and reached the semifinals of the 400 m. He also ran the anchor leg for the country in the 4 x 400 metres relay heats. The team finished second but were eventually disqualified for a lane infringement. The 2018 African Championships were a success for Okezie. He won an individual bronze medal in the 400 metres behind

Baboloki Thebe Baboloki Tirelo Thebe (born 18 March 1997) is a Botswana track and field sprint (running), sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He was a silver medallist in the 200 metres at the Athletics at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, 2014 Summer You ...

and Thapelo Phora. This made him a two-time African Championships bronze medallist as he had won a bronze medal at the 2016 Championships in Durban. He later anchored the Nigerian 4 x 400 m relay team to a bronze medal behind Kenya and South Africa. Okezie was also a member of the African quartet that placed second in the mixed 4 x 400 m relay at the

2018 IAAF Continental Cup The 2018 IAAF Continental Cup is an international track and field sporting event that was held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on 8–9 September 2018. It is the third edition of the IAAF Continental Cup since the name and format was changed from th ...

. In 2019, he won the bronze medal in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the

2019 African Games The 12th African Games was held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This was the first time that the African Games were hosted by Morocco following the country's readmission to the African Union in January 2017. Bidding process The 12th ...

held in Rabat, Morocco. He also won the bronze medal in the men's 400 metres. His personal best in the 400 metres is 45.24 s which he set at the 2018

Culturama Each year, Nevisians celebrate their heritage during Culturama. It is Nevis' answer to the diverse range of carnivals enjoyed on other Caribbean islands. Held annually in late July/early August, it celebrates Nevisians who have moved away and retu ...

Games in Nevis.

Competition record

National Titles

*400 metres: 2015

Personal bests

Outdoor *

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

– 45.24 (Nevis, 2018) Indoor *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

– 21.02 (Boston 2016) *

– 46.48 (Boston 2016)

References

External links

* * DyeStat profile fo
Chidi OkezieHampton Pirates bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okezie, Chidi 1993 births Living people Track and field athletes from Philadelphia American male sprinters Nigerian male sprinters American people of Nigerian descent American sportspeople of Jamaican descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games bronze medalists for Nigeria Commonwealth Games competitors for Nigeria